The Lady in the Box
by soron rocket
Summary: It had been two weeks since they had talked. Well, two weeks to his best calculations. Time was rather wibbly-wobbly when you were a Timelord travelling in a TARDIS.  A follow on from series 6 ep. 4. Doctor/TARDIS. Rating may change, just being safe atm.
1. The Whispering in the Corridor

**Okay, so I really really should be revising for an exam tomorrow. But I just cannot stop thinking about that gem of an episode we got last night – **_**The Doctor's Wife.**_ **Neil Gaimen, you are amazing! I read a lot of Who fanfiction, and have been meaning to write some of my own for ages, but haven't had the inspiration. Until last night. So here it is; my first go. I will try and update weekly, really liking where this story is headed, hope you will too! By the way, I have always been a Doctor/River shipper, but now Doctor/TARDIS is just too enticing not to write about! Please R&R, I love hearing feedback and suggestions, so will love you forever if you do **

**Disclaimer: Doctor Who does not belong to me. ****Gutted.**

It had been two weeks since they had talked. Well, two weeks to his best calculations. Time was rather wibbly-wobbly when you were a Timelord travelling in a TARDIS. He couldn't decide whether it felt like an age, or just a few moments. It seemed so far away but so _fresh_. He sighed in exasperation, putting his sonic down on the panel and pulling his goggles over his head. Of course he had told Amy he couldn't make her talk again. It was impossible. But that didn't mean he hadn't spent every spare moment he had since then trying. It was ridiculous. His head was telling him that he was wasting his time and energy, that he was a fool. But there was a strange sensation in his hearts, one that he had never felt before, telling him to keep trying. He had two hearts, and only one head. It was unfair, really.

He laid his head against the control panel, next to his screwdriver.

"I know you can hear me. I, er … miss you…"

"Doctor?"

The Doctor sprang up violently at Amy's voice, knocking his sonic screwdriver onto the floor.

"Yes Pond? Something up?" he called from bellow the control panel as he scrambled around looking for the screwdriver.

"Who were you talking to?"

He jumped as his fingers closed around it, hitting his head.

"What? Erm, talking to? Nobody! No-one here except me, of course!"

He sprang up, sonic in hand, goggles shoved scruffily atop his mess of brown hair.

"See?" He smiled at her manically.

"You're such a rubbish lier" Amy raised an eyebrow at him as she strolled around the console in her nighty. "What you doing?"

"Doing? Oh, loose circuit, bit of dusting, you know … usual." He avoided her eyes. "Where's Rory then? Why are you up? Not morning already is it?" He checked his watch hurriedly.

"Nope. Rory's still in bed." Amy reassured him. "I couldn't sleep. Kept hearing voices ..."

"Voices? Amy I told you, I wasn't –"

"Not you silly!" Amy rolled her eyes. "Although I think one doth protest too much" she looked at him pointedly.

"Eh?" The Doctor looked puzzled.

"Never mind. Anyway, it sounded like someone was whispering in the corridor outside the bedroom."

The Doctor frowned. "Are you sure it wasn't just the TARDIS humming you could hear?"

"Why, were you stroking the control panel again?" Amy smirked at the Doctor's flushed cheeks. "No, it definitely wasn't the TARDIS. Whatever it was, it was saying your name."

"My name?" The Doctor scratched his chin in contemplation.

"Yeah," Amy replied. "It was all like "Doctor … Doctor…" She whispered the words very softly.

"But how could there be anyone else on the ship?" The Doctor asked to no-one in particular.

"Surely we would have noticed if there was someone else in here, right?" Amy looked concerned.

The Doctor turned back to the control panel and began pushing buttons and pulling levers carefully. Amy noticed how much more gentle he was with it these days.

"The TARDIS is huge; and constantly shifting and changing rooms around. If someone, or something, managed to get aboard, it would be very easy for it to hide. Or even get lost." He paused, a frown on his sharp features. "It's actually getting on board that would be difficult."

Amy noticed several switches on the control panel shifting of their own accord.

"Pass me the scanner, Pond."

Before Amy could do as she was told, the scanner swung round the console, coming to a careful stop directly in front of the Doctor's face. He beamed.

"Thank you dear." He said patting the control panel gently.

Amy couldn't decide whether she wanted to laugh at the mad old alien and the way he spoke to his time machine, or cry at the sorrow in his eyes when he spoke. She settled for a sigh instead.

"What are you going to do Doctor?" She asked.

"Hmm? Oh, right. I'm performing a scan of the whole ship. It will show us how many life forms there are on board, where they are located and the condition they are in."

"Condition?" Amy frowned at the scanner screen as it flickered.

"Ah, yes. Healthy, injured, what age, and so on, and so on." The Doctor informed her.

Finally the TARDIS finished her scan and four differently coloured dots appeared at different locations on the screen. There was a single green dot halfway up the left hand side of the screen.

"This is Rory." The Doctor said, pointing to it. "See how the dot is green? That means he is healthy. And here we are." He gestured to the middle of the screen, where one purple and one green dot were placed.

"Why am I purple!" Amy demanded.

"Ah, purple. Erm, yes, purple mean's you're … in need of more sleep!" The Doctor blurted out a little too hurriedly.

"In need of …? Oh right, yeah, ok." Amy nodded, though she didn't feel especially sleepy at all.

The Doctor knew Amy didn't need any more sleep. Purple meant something different altogether.

"So, if Rory is there," She gestured towards the screen. "And you and I are here, then what the hell is this Red dot up here, Doctor?" She sounded rather panicked.

"Now that, Pond, can only be found out one way." He grinned at her.

"Oh God." Amy moaned.

"Come along Pond, it's time we gave you a proper tour of the TARDIS!"


	2. The Room He Didn't Recognise

**Okay, so I decided to**** finish the next chapter last night, but Fanfiction wouldn't let me upload for some reason! Here it is now though, hope you like!**

**Please R&R, it makes me super-duper happy!**

**Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own Doctor Who. Much to my deep sadness.**

The Doctor grabbed Amy's hand and pulled her towards the stairs before she could protest.

"If I am correct, the location of that life form was towards the north side of the TARDIS, so if we head down the main corridor just up here, we should be moving straight towards it. That's if the TARDIS doesn't decide to switch the room locations around, of course."

Amy groaned as her slipper-clad feet pounded up the stairs behind the Doctor.

"So that means we could be looking for _days_ then?" She asked, exasperated.

"I doubt it." The Doctor answered cheerily. They were moving down the main TARDIS corridor now. The walls were steel grey and bare. Amy shivered as the memory of being chased down these very corridors by House came back to her, and she suddenly wished it was Rory's hand she was holding. As if he read her mind, the Doctor gave her hand a tight squeeze before falling into step beside her.

"Everything ok Pond?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little cold, it's fine" She smiled weakly.

"Oh that's not a problem! We can just-" Before the Doctor was able to finish his sentence, the cold grey corridor suddenly took on a warm glow. "- turn on the heating … excellent!" He exclaimed happily, clapping his hands together. "Now then, onwards Pond!"

Amy smiled, this time in earnest. She could feel the heat beginning to warm her toes nicely.

"Thanks." She whispered quietly. She knew just as well as the Doctor did that the TARDIS could still hear her.

When they reached Amy and Rory's room, they were greeted with the strange whispering that had woken Amy.

_Doctor … Doctor…_

The Doctor stopped. "Is this what you heard Pond?"

"Yeah … but its fainter now, I can hardly hear it …" She frowned, attempting to listen.

"Yes." The Doctor replied. "Seems strangely familiar, but I don't know where I've heard it …"

_Doctor…_

"It's female. Definitely." Amy decided.

The Doctor merely nodded in agreement. They stood rooted to the spot for several more minutes, but the sound seemed to have stopped.

"This way, I believe!" The Doctor suddenly exclaimed, striding forwards again. "Come along, Pond!"

They moved quickly down the corridor, ignoring the smaller corridors which branched off in all directions. As they walked, they passed doors of all shapes and sizes – wood, metal, glass, and other strange looking materials Amy had never seen. Neither she nor Rory had ventured this far into the TARDIS before. The Doctor strode confidently beside her, pointing out the names of different rooms animatedly.

"Oh _yes_!" He exclaimed as they passed a door which appeared to be made of stone. "Now that is one of my _favourites_!" He grinned in that ever-so-slightly-insane manner of his.

"Why? "Amy asked, glancing back at the door. "What's in there?"

"My rock collection!" The Doctor replied fondly.

"Greaaaat." Amy muttered sarcastically.

"Hey, I will have you know it took me absolutely centuries to build up such a collection. River did help me to retrieve a few specimens, naturally, being an archaeologist and all. But the majority I obtained entirely on my own merit. There is a particularly sought after piece in there which -" The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks in front of a painted blue door. "oh."

"Oh?" Amy asked, glancing from the Doctor to the door and back again. The Doctor was still silent; merely staring at the door with a strange look on his face Amy couldn't quite place. "What's the matter?"

"That … that door. It's new." He answered slowly.

"Oh so the TARDIS decided to do a little redecorating without you, it's no biggie!" Amy said offhandedly.

"No, you don't understand. The doors never change. Maybe the rooms change position within the ship, but the actual doors are never changed. I have never seen this room before." The Doctor was suddenly very serious.

"Doctor, it's a big ship. Maybe you just haven't noticed this one before. Maybe it's just like a, um, storage room or something?" Amy offered.

The Doctor turned to face her. "Amy, I have lived and travelled in this ship for over 600 years. I know _every_ room. . Room." He stressed the last three words particularly.

Amy swallowed audibly. "Oh-kaay, so now what? Do you think whatever that red dot was could be in there?"

The Doctor whipped his sonic screwdriver out from his jacket pocket. "There is a good possibility." He scanned the door and checked it.

"Do you think it might be like, dangerous or something?" Amy asked uneasily.

"Maybe. But the red colour of the dot means that it is weak. Really weak. There are two of us and one of it. We should be fine, whatever it is."

"Yeah great!" Amy said sarcastically. "Earth-girl in her nighty and slippers and 900 year old mad man" -she quickly corrected herself- "Alien thingy against the unknown. Excellent. Just brilliant." But she was cut short as the Doctor placed a finger to her lips and shushed her. He had his head against the door and was listening intently.

_Doctor…_

That voice. He knew it. He couldn't ever forget it. But how? It wasn't possible.

_Doctor._

He jumped backwards in alarm, removing his finger from Amy's lips.

"Ah, er, right Pond. On second thoughts, maybe I should pop inside first. Alone. Just to er, you know, check. It could be dangerous. Or scary. Or big! Yes or big. Big, dangerous and scary. Yes. Best if you stay out here. Back in a tick!"

And with that, he disappeared behind the door. Amy stood, speechless, alone in the corridor. It took her a few seconds to actually come to terms with the fact that he had just abandoned her. But then she came to her senses, and slammed herself against the blue door. Which didn't budge.

"Doctor!" She yelled, yanking the door handle. "DOCTOR! I know you were lying! You know what's in that room! DOCTOR! YOU HAD BETTER LET ME IN RIGHT NOW!"

**Phew! Second chapter **_**fin.**_** I hope you liked. What's behind the door? *gasps*. Sorry there hasn't been a great deal of major action yet, but I think the next chapter will more than satisfy ;) **


	3. The Wires in the Walls

**Okaaaay, So sorry for the wait on this one, I wrote the first half of this chapter pretty quickly but got a spot of writers block about half way through, hence the slow update … anyways, 'tis here now for your enjoyment! Was listening to Eminem's song 'I Need a Doctor" Whilst writing this, and part of the chorus fit in very well with this fic, so I have included it at the beginning of the chapter. I have to say a massive thanks to my reviewers, and also everyone who has favourited or subscribed to this story, your support means a lot! Well hope you enjoy anyway, and as always I do not own any of Doctor Who, though I am working on winning the lottery and buying Matt Smith as my own personal ****butler ;) *sigh***

_Ca__ll me a doctor  
>I need a doctor … <em>

_doctor __…  
>To bring me back to life.<em>

The doctor's twin hearts beat frantically as he slipped through the door, leaving a bewildered Amy in the corridor. He slammed it shut behind him, pressing his back against it firmly. A quick buzz of the sonic screwdriver and it was locked tight. He winced slightly at Amy's muffled shouts and furious banging on the other side.

"Back soon Pond, no need to worry!" The Doctor hoped this sounded reassuring.

There was one final, extremely frustrated scream before the corridor outside fell silent. He breathed out in a moment of short lived relief, before attempting to peer around the dark room before him.

"Any chance of some light, old girl?" he called out cautiously into the blackness.

Nothing.

He humphed in annoyance before flicking his sonic, emitting a small beam of light which seemed to help illuminate the darkness only marginally. The Doctor swept the beam across the room; it wasn't especially large. The walls seemed to be choked with wiring and cables, cogs and levers protruding here and there out of the tangled mess. It was as though the TARDIS was somehow growing her own mechanical jungle through the walls. The Doctor whistled as he continued to illuminate different sections of the room with the beam.

"What a mess. You have been busy in here old girl. Some sort of room malfunction?" he asked, knowing full well that he wasn't going to hear an answer.

_Doctor …_

He jumped suddenly at the sound of the whispered voice again.

"Hello? I'm here … who are you? What do you want?"

He swept the room once more with the sonic's beam, but there seemed to be no movement amongst the tangles. He wondered if he was going mad. It was entirely his own fault; yes. He had sent himself round the twist, what with all his failed attempts at re-wiring the TARDIS mainframe, sleepless nights spent praying to hear that voice again, to hear speech, to hear just one word, any word …

_Doctor_…

"Is that you?" He flicked the beam of light up towards the ceiling, which was also erupting with wires and twisted metal. "Is it you? Can you …speak?"

There was no reply. The Doctor clenched his jaw in annoyance, striding towards the nearest wall. He began examining the wires, sweeping his fingers over them delicately. To his surprise, they began to glow slightly when he touched them. He called out again.

"I know it's you. I recognise that voice. If you can speak, answer me!"

Still nothing. He moved along the wall, the wires continuing to glow weakly at his touch.

_Doctor…_

His head snapped towards the far wall of the room. The whispers seemed to be coming from that direction.

"Yes? What is it?" He shouted, moving over to the wall. He switched off the beam of light coming from his sonic screwdriver and began scanning the mess of wires before him. He couldn't seem to get a clear reading on it; something was scrambling its signal. He could feel his anger rising. "Answer me!" he demanded. "Speak to me!"

He tried scanning the wall of wires in front of him again, but still he couldn't get a reading.

_Doctor …_

It seemed to be right in front of him now. He gripped the screwdriver until his knuckles were white.

"I am here. You know I am. What do you want from me?" He was shouting. "I don't understand! Give me a sign or something, what am I supposed to do?"

The silence that followed his words seemed to drain the warmth from his hearts. He hung his head, voice now tinged with desperation. "Answer me, please …"

Leaning forward, he placed both hands into the mess of wires before him and grabbed handfuls in frustration. The wires began to glow again at the Time Lord's touch; this time the shimmering light was stronger, and bright gold. The Doctor gasped. His hands were tingling strangely, as though little static currents were passing through his finger tips and up both of his arms. He pulled at the wires sharply, but instead of moving backwards, he felt what seemed to be a force on the other end pulling him in towards the tangled wall. He attempted to release the wires, but somehow his fingers and palms were stuck fast – try as he might, he could not loosen his grip.

"What the …" The Doctor's feet began to slip along the metal floor as he was pulled further and further towards the wall. His arms were aching; it began as a dull ache but seemed to be growing fiercer by the second. The glowing in the wires was spreading now too, illuminating the twisted metal and gears protruding from the walls, gathering pace as it went.

"Er … help?" The Doctor, despite the eager wires and aching in his arms, still seemed to be quite unable to take in his situation. "I think I might need some … AMY! HELP!"

On the other side of the mystery blue door, Amy sat slumped on the floor. She had given up screaming at him a good ten minutes ago. What was the use? He wasn't going to listen. He never did. Not to anyone. Not even her.

Suddenly the lights in the TARDIS corridor flickered, plunging her into momentary blackness.

Amy jumped to her feet, peering up and down the corridor cautiously. The lights flickered again.

"…AMY! HELP!"

The voice was muffled on the other side of the door, but it was the Doctor alright, and he sounded like he was in trouble. Amy turned and slammed herself against the door, her ear pressed tight to the wood anxiously.

"Doctor!" She yelled, "Can you hear me?"

"PLEASE!" The Doctor's cry was strangled, as though he was in a great deal of pain.

"Doctor!" Amy cried frantically, "I'm coming!"

And with another great effort, she slammed herself into the door hard, making contact with the solid wood just as the flickering lights failed. The corridor plunged into darkness.

**Aww maaan, What the hell? Yeah I know you hate me. You**** want to find out what's in the room right? What the hell is going on? You will soon, I promise! I could have carried on, but that just seemed like a good place to end it. I'm gonna start on the next chapter right away though, so it should be up pretty sharpish! Please, please review, even if you hated it, I'd like to know how I can improve, and I love suggestions! Thank you all!**


	4. Hello Sexy

**Yay! Finally got this one done. Thanks for all your reviews! I hope you like****.**

Could Amy hear him? He didn't know. He was struggling to think straight with the eye-watering whooshing sound in his ears. It felt like his blood was rushing much, much faster than it should be, his whole body throbbing with a fierce pain as the wires he was forced to grip so tightly began to crawl up his arms. He attempted to dig his heels into the floor, but the smooth metal provided no grip at all, and he was dragged towards the wall – a wall now illuminated gold with writhing wires and spinning cogs. The Doctor threw all his weight into leaning back, arching his head away from the wall and crushing his eyes shut as fiery pain engulfed his body. He was struggling to remain conscious now; the pain was so great. Just as his knees were threatening to give way completely, he heard a frantic voice call from outside the room.

"Doctor! Can you hear me?"

It was Pond. She had heard him.

"PLEASE!" His cry was strangled, it sounded foreign to him as it left his lips, but it was all he could muster as the suffocating pain took hold of his consciousness. He felt his legs finally give up as he toppled forwards, his temple coming into contact with the jungle of metal and wire in a blinding flash of light. He heard a whisper inches from his face …

_Doctor__._

Managing to heave his eyes open, he was met with two deep brown irises peering back at him from within the mess of tangled wire, before his world finally fell to blackness.

The first thing that returned to him was the excruciating pain in his temple. It burned like fire, and the moment he tried to open his eyes the light that crashed in seemed to make it ten times worse. He clamped them shut again. The feeling in the rest of his body was returning now too. He flexed his aching fingers and toes, grimacing. Five on each hand, five on each foot. That was good. He concentrated on breathing slowly as his other senses returned gradually to him. Deep breaths.

In.

And out.

"Oh thank God Doctor!"

It was Amy. He felt her gentle hands brush his face, lingering on his forehead. He breathed in sharply as her fingers hit a tender spot. He wanted to speak to her, to ask what was happening, but he was afraid to even open his eyelids again. Just breathe, he reminded himself.

In.

And out.

In.

And out.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Amy's voice demanded.

In.

And out.

"I merely extracted a portion of his DNA via the internal system, rerouted it into the human body, stole some of the time energy belonging to him and – what _is_ the correct word – I've been mulling-puzzling-wondering about it for a time greater than a week but less than two – ohh, _re-booted_! Yes, re-booted the body,"

The Doctor shot up, forgetting his breathing exercises, the pain searing through his temple now tenfold. His eyes flew open, blinding light flooding into his pupils and increasing his pain again. But he didn't care. He clutched his head.

"It's you!" He flung his arm in the general direction of the two female silhouettes before him. He still could not see properly.

"Ahh, my thief."

There was an awkward silence, something that rarely happened around the usually talkative Doctor. He sat motionless for a minute, allowing his eyes to adjust to the now bright room. Slowly everything came properly into focus. Due to a bright light emanating from the ceiling, he could see all four walls of the room clearly now, and what a mess they were, wires spilling out of every space and corner. His eyes did not linger on them long, however, as stood just feet in front of him was a rather disgruntled looking Amy Pond. And directly to her right, a smile lighting up her graceful features, stood …

"Dear Rassilon!" The Doctor exclaimed, clutching his chest and shuffling back slightly. "It is you! But how? What in the name of – ah!" He clutched at his throbbing head, breathing deeply for a moment until the pain subsided to a dull ache. He looked up again. Up into the eyes of her, the woman – was that the right word, woman? – who he never thought he would gaze upon again. Her. His Sexy.

"What did you _do?_" He yelled. "How is this even possible? I feel like my soul has literally been _ripped_ from my body, passed through some super charged blender-thingy, and then shoved back in," He paused, "Through my nose! And now you are just standing here. Standing here like there isn't a care in the world. All … human, and stuff." He grimaced again as his head throbbed. "I don't even want to _know_ how many holes you have ripped in the universe this time." He lent back on his elbows, exhausted.

The TARDIS's eyes lit up.

"Absolutely, completely, most definitely zero black holes in the present universe due to this process." She informed him shortly. "And you are feeling like that because to summarise in a simplified and slightly abstract manner, that is precisely what has happened to you." She peered down at him, leaning forward so that her face was merely inches from his own. He could count every single long dark lash fanning her eyes. "Are you going to say it then? You haven't said the thing, you know."

The Doctor looked at her questioningly, raising an eyebrow. "What's the thing?"

The TARDIS shook her head impatiently.

"You are supposed to greet me. Properly. Like you always do when we have been apart for a length of time."

"You mean 'hello'?" The Doctor asked, confused.

"Hello _Sexy_" The TARDIS replied firmly.

The Doctor cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Er, hello… _Sexy._"

He looked towards Amy, who had been silent for far longer than was her usual manner. Her eyes were darting between the Doctor and his TARDIS. When she noticed him looking, she placed both hands on her hips.

"Doctor, what the hell? I thought you were _dying, _you know. Then I manage to break into this weird room and … it's just like … and then _she _… But _you said_ …"

"Yes, yes Pond. TARDIS's can't speak. I know. I did say that. You're right. Have a lollypop. Clearly, I was wrong. Very wrong." He stretched out his hand towards her. "Please could you help me up?"

"That is highly unadvisable at the present moment." The TARDIS spoke before Amy had chance to reach out her hand. "If you attempt to stand now, you will proceed to –" She stopped, cocking her head to the side slightly. "In need of a word. Means to expel. Expel the contents of one's stomach. Violently. It's unpleasant, I think, though I can't speak from experience. I think - "

"Ugh. You mean vomit." The Doctor dropped his hand in exasperation. "Lovely. Thanks dear."

"Well that is quite alright. In one hundred and twenty two point two five seconds you should be safe to stand. Most of the effects wear off rapidly. The intense head pain and aching muscles will last between three and four days, however." The TARDIS smiled, apparently to herself.

The Doctor raised a hand to his head and rubbed it gently. He was … numb. For once in his life, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He didn't know what to say, what to do next. He peered up at the TARDIS. So much time spent longing for this moment, yet now she was here, back again, in a human body, able to speak … he just didn't know what to say to her. It shouldn't be possible. It wasn't possible. How was his ship even running if his TARDIS was in that human body? The Doctor, for the very first time in his nine hundred years, was flabbergasted.

**Okay, a nice longer one today for you. Found this one quite difficult though. I have a whole theory as to how the TARDIS has managed her amazing feat, but this won't get explained until probably the next chapter, so I hope it wasn't too tricky to understand :/ If you thought it was, please leave a review with any suggestions as to how I can improve it. You will make me super happy ;) Thanks guys!**


	5. A small word beginning with 'h'

**Right, so I took rather a long time to update ... really, really sorry about that! I know you guys have been waiting patiently though, so here it is for you to enjoy :) Longest chapter so far! Not too sure about it though ... please let me know what you think with a review! Thank youuu :D**

"Well I am utterly confused, to be quite honest. This whole situation, according to what you have told me, Doctor, is impossible. Now either you have been lying to me, which is NOT a good move, let me tell you, or something has happened which is beyond even your understanding. And that possibility, quite frankly, is bloody scary. So I'm looking for some answers. Pronto." Amy Pond finished her rant and inhaled deeply.

The Doctor rubbed his forehead and covered his eyes. The room was silent again, and he could tell that both Amy and the TARDIS were waiting for him to say something. Something clever, probably. He couldn't, though. Not a thing. He couldn't even come up with some idiotic and pointless waffle, a tactic he often relied on in awkward situations. He ran a shaky hand through his flamboyant mess of brown hair, carefully squinting his eyes so as not to let too much light in and set his head searing in pain again. After what seemed like an age he felt he could take the peculiar atmosphere no longer and opened his parched mouth to say something. Anything.

"Ahh, the thing is … did you know that in the galaxy-"

But he was cut short by a gleeful exclamation by the TARDIS.

"…And it is now safe for you to stand without risk of vomiting!"

The Doctors mouth hung open mid speech as he stared at the dark haired woman in front of him, still dressed in the shabby Victorian party dress she had been wearing when they said goodbye two weeks ago. She had a habit of leaving it until the very last minute to rescue him, annoyingly. Truth was though, he kind of … liked it.

"Oh for God's sake! Here." Amy Pond thrust her arm impatiently at the Doctor, who snapped from his reverie, glanced at her outstretched hand, and eventually took it gingerly.

"I hope your predictions are right. I better not be … ugh." He groaned, clutching his stomach with his free hand as he was pulled to his feet. "I feel …"

"Dreadful. Yes, I did warn you. You'll feel much improved in a matter of hours however. Trust me, I'm the TARDIS" And the TARDIS shot him the most dazzling grin.

"Hah!" The Doctor laughed sarcastically, but he couldn't help his mouth turning up at the corners in a very small smile. "Right, well. So…" He scratched his chin and looked from Amy, to the TARDIS, and back to Amy. He noticed he was swaying slightly, his head still a little fuzzy. "If I'm honest, my head hurts. A lot. And its full of these annoying little niggly things, called questions, which aren't really helping. Amy?"

Amy moved closer to the Doctor. She had noticed he was swaying, too. "Yeah?"

"May need some help. Walking. I think it would be best to find somewhere more comfortable where we can, well, talk, I suppose… and find you your answers." And his hearts did this strange little somersault at the word 'talk'. The TARDIS. And him. Actually _talking_ again. He felt himself grinning stupidly, despite the throbbing in his skull and the aching in his legs.

Amy snaked her arm around the Doctor's. "Where did you have in mind?"

The Doctor opened his mouth, but before he could reply the TARDIS cut in.

"I have the perfect room. Excellent for talking. And sitting. Give me just a moment." She closed her eyes, and a slight frown creased her brow.

Amy leaned in closer to the Doctor.

"Er… what's she doing?" She whispered.

"… not a clue" The Doctor replied, peering at the dark haired woman with interest.

After several moments, the TARDIS opened her eyes and smiled pleasantly at the Doctor and his companion. "This way." She turned swiftly on her heel and led the way towards the main corridor. The Doctor shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "She knows best."

Amy shook her head, but moved to follow the TARDIS, careful to support the still swaying Doctor as they walked. They didn't have to walk far, however, as the TARDIS stopped abruptly at the spot where Amy remembered the Doctors rock collection room had been.

"Aww what!" She dropped the Doctors arm in annoyance. "We have to go sit amongst a load of old rocks in dusty cases? Ugh. Great."

"Brilliant!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"Yes, for you, you freak of the cosmos. Just give me a comfy sofa with big squishy pillows. That's all I want. Not flippin' rocks in cases. I can't believe-"

"No, Pond, you muppet!" The Doctor grinned at Amy manically. "Don't you see? She's moved the rooms around! So we didn't have to walk far. Remember how I told you she did that?" He turned to the TARDIS. "You _have_ to tell me how you're still doing that, you clever, clever girl!"

The TARDIS immediately opened her mouth to explain, but the Doctor pushed a finger to her lips before she could speak. "Not yet. I need to sit down first. Shall we?" he removed his finger and gestured for her to lead the way into the room. Amy peered at the door as she followed the pair inside, and noticed that rather than stone as it had been previously, it was now in fact a deep mahogany. The Doctor was right.

The room in which they found themselves was, much to Amy's delight, actually filled with mismatched sofas and chairs, all spread around a huge fireplace, within which a modest fire crackled merrily.

"Perfecto." The Doctor grinned cheerily, though this soon turned to a grimace as he attempted to lower himself into an armchair. Amy gripped his arm.

"Thanks Pond. Woozy head still. Achy legs too." The smile returned to his lips as he settled himself. Amy merely nodded, returning the smile.

"Wonder if Rory's still asleep?" The Doctor pondered as Amy and the TARDIS made themselves comfortable in chairs either side of him. "I'm guessing we made quite a bit of noise back there. Wouldn't surprise me if it woke him, you know. Maybe you should-"

Again, the TARDIS cut across the Doctor.

"The pretty one is still sleeping in the Ponds bedroom. He is making peculiar noses through his nose. It does sound rather like he is in a lot of pain, he's very loud, but I can assure you he is quite alright."

Both Amy and the Doctor stared at the TARDIS. The Doctor was smiling. Amy was not.

"You can still see?" The Doctor enquired. "See the whole ship? But how … ah, this is going to take a while."

"You can see _into_ our bedroom?" Amy spoke through gritted teeth. "But that's _private_! You can't just-"

"I created it." The TARDIS said simply.

"What?" Amy replied.

"Your bedroom. I created it. It's part of me. An element of my structure. I have always been able to see into it."

Amy clamped her mouth shut and blushed hard.

The Doctor glanced nervously between the two women. He knew where this conversation was headed, and what with the TARDIS being the loose cannon she was in this new body, he did _not_ want to go there. What the Ponds did in their spare time on his ship was just … ugh. Most definitely _their_ business.

"Well … aha. Now that we have established that Rory is quite alright, let's … have some answers." He looked at the TARDIS pointedly. "I mean you. You need to tell me… how in the name of Rassilon are you sat here, in front of me, a woman? You're a TARDIS. Not a woman. You're not supposed to belong in that body." The Doctor rubbed his head again. "I need to know how you did it."

"Ask the question, then." The TARDIS said simply.

The Doctor looked up, catching her eyes. He twiddled his thumbs. "How did you put your soul back into that human body?"

The TARDIS grinned excitedly, blinked several times, adjusted her skirts, and then launched into her tale, which she was clearly eager to tell.

"This speaking business is fun, isn't it? I had forgotten just how much so. To answer your question, my thief … I can call you that can't I? I know they call you Doctor, but you're not _my _Doctor, are you? No, you're _my_ thief! _My _thief that _I_ stole" She gave a little giggle and what he was sure was a wink.

"Yes, alright, if you like" The Doctor said impatiently, rolling his eyes slightly. "I'm you're thief. Now go on."

"Good. Now listen carefully, because I am only going to tell you all of this once." The TARDIS cleared her throat. "As my pure self; my soul, if you like, was saying farewell to you in the control room, taking on the image of the human body I had been occupying…"

"You mean when you were all gold and shiny and stuff after you kicked House's butt?" Amy cut in.

"Yes, correct, now do not interrupt," The TARDIS said sternly, before continuing. "As this was occurring, I was also transporting the physical human body, which I had left moments earlier, to another part of my structure. I was curious as to how House had managed to … silly words, which one am I looking for? Insert? Not quite right, but it will have to do! Yes, insert my soul into such a body. Additionally, I thought it quite a pretty human body. Nice eyes, don't you think?" She opened her eyes wide at the Doctor and Amy.

The Doctor blushed slightly. "Quite," He murmured almost inaudibly.

"Seemed such a waste to just dispose of it, a great shame really. So I created a sort of … again, what word is it …mmm … gosh it _is_ hard to think with such a tiny space in your head isn't it? Store! I created a storage room for the body. To keep it fresh, you see? Dead human flesh creates an awful stench, it really does. Didn't want _that_ wafting through my corridors!"

Amy wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"I didn't intend to actually _use _it, not at first, anyway. But you still talked to me, my thief. As you always have." She smiled at the Doctor genuinely. "But for the first time, it made me exceptionally sad. You see, something had changed. I know now what it feels like to answer your words. To have you hear my reply. But I could no longer speak to you. I had lost my voice. And it hurt me to see you trying to give it back, and failing."

The Doctor glanced sideways at Amy, who was listening with interest. He swallowed quietly. He was never going to live this down.

"I have watched you working so hard, hours and hours every night, or any spare moments you have had, to create a speech device or source of output for me. I heard every word you said to me, felt every touch of your fingers, but I could not tell you I felt your pain, or understood your words. I never realised our meeting had such an impact on you, Time Lord."

The Doctor was blushing crimson. He dared not even look at Amy for fear of what she would say to him. As he listened, he realised what a fool he sounded. The crazy old Time Lord, in love with his time machine. His big blue box. To his surprise, however, Amy had leaned across the gap between their chairs and was now gently squeezing his hand. He looked across at her hesitantly, and she gave him a knowing smile.

"You crazy old fool." She teased. "I knew that's what you were doing. You were talking to her tonight, weren't you? And trying to make her speak. I could tell by the way you dropped your screwdriver when you saw me. Oh, Doctor!"

The Doctor, in an effort to retain at least some of his dignity, opened his mouth to protest. The TARDIS got in there first, however.

"Why is your face red, thief? Are you unwell?"

"Ugh. Quite." The Doctor muttered, sinking into his chair. "It's just … er … I had stuff that I wanted to ask you, on reflection. Things I wanted to know, about you … well, TARDIS's in general really … and about things that have happened, in the past … or will happen in the future." He glanced nervously at Amy, and wondered if she believed it was really all as simple as that. She had an eyebrow raised sceptically.

"Well now you can my thief!" The TARDIS beamed. "and I am also curious about many things."

"Hang on, hang on …" Amy interjected. "are you sure you didn't want to speak to her again because you are a lonely old genius who fell in love with his time-machine-turned-human, and whose hearts were broken when her soul got trapped back in the big blue box, and you never had chance to tell her?"

The Doctor spluttered in surprise, followed by a distressed hiccup. _Damn it, how did she do that? Damn pond._

"Don't be ridiculous Pond" He scoffed. "She's a TARDIS. Time-and-relative-dimensions-in-space. I am a Time Lord. Honestly, I don't know where you get these ideas sometimes. That's just silly." He waved his hand dismissively, and winced as he sat back in his chair and crossed his legs.

"Whatever you say …" Amy replied, clearly unconvinced.

The TARDIS merely watched the pair, her face unreadable.

"Anyway, Pond, you've gone off topic." He cleared his throat, turning to the TARDIS. "What I really want to know, is actually _how_ you managed to squeeze your entire soul back in _there_," he pointed at her, "and why you needed to make me feel so incredibly _ill_ in the process."

"Well _actually_, I didn't squeeze my _entire_ soul back in here." The TARDIS placed a gentle finger to her temple. "I split it."

"Split it? In half?" The Doctor frowned.

The TARDIS nodded slowly. "In. Half. You helped." She smiled at him again.

"Ouch." Amy remarked.

"Yes, ouch." Said the Doctor. "It was very painful, let me assure you."

"Not you, you idiot. I mean her. It's gotta hurt, splitting your soul in half, right?" She asked the TARDIS.

She nodded, although she was still smiling. "Yes, I suppose it was … painful. I'm not entirely sure TARDIS's feel pain in the same way as humans do, but it was not a pleasant experience. There are no human words that describe it accurately enough, I'm afraid …" She seemed to think for a moment. "No, unfortunately not."

The Doctor immediately felt guilty. He watched her, this beautiful creature in front of him. It was deeper than the mere human beauty visible on the surface. She had split her soul for him.

"I stole time energy belonging to you," She nodded at the Doctor, before turning to Amy. "Time Lords are rife with it, as are TARDIS's. You have a little now, too, Orange one. It's time travel; it does that to a being. You will lose it eventually though when you leave us." She looked sad for a moment, before continuing. "I needed the superfluous energy from my thief for the split. Once my soul was halved, it was easier to insert into the human body, and it ensured that I was still able to remain connected to my true physical structure via the other half. I needed to … hmm … make the human body, what word did I use previously? Words are silly. Re-boot! I needed to re-boot the body before I inserted the soul. In order to do this, I stole Time Lord DNA from my thief, specifically genes responsible for … oh, what is it you do? You know, with all that gold light, and you change your face to something new and more silly, oh you do it all the time! What is the word for it?" She demanded in frustration. "I can't process efficiently with this tiny human brain!"

"Regeneration," The Doctor informed her. "And what do you mean 'more silly'?"

She ignored his last comment. "Ah yes, I used the genes responsible for regeneration, and re-programmed the human DNA, so that there is now capacity for partial regeneration. I then used more time energy from my thief to kick-start the partial regeneration, allowing the human body to …" the TARDIS appeared to be searching hard for the right word. "_live_ again. With me inside." The beaming smile was back.

"Wait, wait, wait." The Doctor shook his head. "Hold on just a moment. Does that mean, then …"

"You're part time lord as well!" Amy cut in. The Doctor sighed in annoyance.

"Yes." The TARDIS nodded enthusiastically in the manner of a teacher praising a student. "My physical body is approximately one eighth time lord."

"But then, surely that means…" the Doctor tried again, but was once again interrupted by Amy.

"You can regenerate!" She exclaimed.

"Not precisely." The TARDIS shook her head, and Amy slouched disappointedly. "Partial regeneration. The body is able too … a moment, searching for correct word … _repair_ itself to a certain extent, but it does not create a different form, as a Time Lord's body would."

The Doctor frowned. "Ingenious. No wonder it was painful for me." He ran a hand through his unruly hair. "So this body is now able to contain your soul without any side effects?"

The TARDIS appeared to think for a moment. "I believe so. The bridge to the second half of my soul whilst I am still inside or near to my original body enables the energy to be stabilised, preventing excess energy rapidly degenerating the body, as it did previously when that ridiculous thing House attempted to contain my _whole_ sole in this body."

"Good. Good." The Doctor nodded. "And the TARDIS … I mean, well, the ship, you …" He folded his arms. "This is stupidly confusing." He thought for a moment. "What I'm trying to say is, we can still travel? While you're like this? You can still do everything you could do before?"

"Yes." The TARDIS said simply.

"… yet you're here, in front of me." He remarked.

"Yes." The TARDIS repeated.

"… and you can see Rory fast asleep in bed, and my rock collection gathering dust, and the control room with the parking break I accidentally-maybe-on-purpose left on, and my lucky bow tie I left on the floor of my room this morning, all at this very moment?"

"Yes."

"And you can move the library with the swimming pool next to the kitchen with the trampoline, pretty much … right now?"

There was a slight pause.

"Location changed."

"Bloody outstanding!" The Doctor exclaimed, making Amy jump suddenly. "Seriously, old girl, I am impressed!" He was beaming now.

"You can't call her that." Amy remarked.

"Why not?" The Doctor and his TARDIS asked in unison.

Amy rolled her eyes. "I know she is really, well, old … but look at her. She doesn't _look_ old. That body can't be a day over thirty five. That's not _old._ It sounds, well, ridiculous, to be fair." She raised her eyebrows at the pair. "She needs a name."

"I have _got_ a name." The TARDIS replied, sounding slightly irked.

Amy waited expectantly.

"Oh yeah, you have?" The Doctor asked nervously.

"Yes. My name is _sexy_."

Amy giggled as the doctor smacked his hand to his forehead.

"No, no, no. Only when we are _alone_, remember dear?" He said in exasperation.

"Are you …" The TARDIS frowned in thought. "I think the word is …"

"Embarrassed?" Amy suggested, glancing pointedly at the Doctor.

"Pond, I think it's time you checked on your husband. In bed." He said in an 'and-I'm-not-even-joking' manner.

"But _Sexy _said he's-" Amy began, but the Doctor stopped her short with a look usually reserved only for the likes of the Daleks. "Oooh –Kaaay. I'll just be off to bed then. Beauty sleep and all that malarchy." She rose out of her arm chair. "Hope you're feeling a little better in the morning, and you can manage to make Rory and me some more of that burnt toast you're so good at." She stuck her tongue out at him as she reached the door. "Oh, and Sexy? Make sure he doesn't keep you up _all_ night, won't you?" And with a suggestive wink and a giggle she was gone before the Doctor had chance to give her a second helping of 'the look.'

The Time lord and his TARDIS listened quietly as Amy's footsteps grew quieter, and before long they were left with only the quiet crackling of the fire to break the silence. Glancing sideways, the Doctor noticed the TARDIS staring at him contentedly, her head cocked to the side. She was obviously deep in thought about something.

"Well…" He began, but broke into a large yawn before he could continue.

"You are tired." The TARDIS stated.

"Me? Oh no, no. I'm fine! Time Lords don't slee-"

"Time Lords require sleep," She interrupted. "Perhaps not as much as humans do, but it is still necessary." She raised her eyebrows at him. "You forget who you are speaking to, my Thief. I know just as much as you, and perhaps more. I am not human in here," She pointed to her temple. "Don't forget."

She was right. He was so used to saying it to everyone. He denied himself sleep, because sleep meant being alone, lying in the dark, with nothing to preoccupy his mind, and when his thoughts were free to drift, they often arrived at unwanted places … memories of a war, and a decision that had ripped at his hearts.

"You did the right thing." Her voice was quiet, but incredibly firm and full of confidence.

"What?" He glanced at her, and he wondered if she could hear inside his head, too …

She did not repeat herself, but merely stared at him a little while longer before reaching up to touch her face. She ran a slender finger over each eyebrow, down her perfectly formed nose and across her pale lips. The Doctor wondered what it would be like to touch those lips with his own fingers, but immediately scolded himself for being so idiotic. Still, she was a _woman_ now. And yes, he supposed he _had_ wished really hard. She had her hands over her eyes now, and was peeking through her fingers at him.

"Faces are strange," She remarked. "All these little separate parts with their own functions! Eyes for seeing, Noses for tasting …"

"Smelling," The Doctor corrected, chuckling slightly. "_You_ should have no problem remembering what your mouth is for."

"Yes, that's right!" She smiled. "Mouths for kissing!"

And that's when she did it. She leaned over from her chair, nearly falling out of it in her excitement, clutched his face between her hands and just kissed him. Kissed him full on the lips. It was short and very sweet, and she smiled brightly as she pulled away.

"I was going to say talking," The Doctor said breathlessly, his eyes locked on her face and a blush creeping across his cheeks where she had grabbed him.

"Oh yes, and talking. Aaaand tasting. Gosh mouths are handy, aren't they? You can do so much with them!" She remarked.

The Doctor swallowed hard. Good lord, his TARDIS was a woman. She was a woman, and she was his TARDIS. His TARDIS, and a woman. It was hitting him all over again. He resisted the urge to poke her face just to check she was actually real. "So much," he agreed, nodding.

"Oh I missed one! You can bite! Biting is fu-"

He clamped his hand over her mouth before she had chance to finish. She needed to shut up, seriously. God only knew what Amy would say if she could see them now. Oh Rassilon what this was doing to him!

"Do you sleep?" He blurted.

The TARDIS frowned, thinking. She reached up and removed his hand from her mouth, but didn't let go of it, seemingly subconsciously. "Sleep? I hadn't really considered …" She glanced down at her body. "Time lord and human DNA … both species require sleep…" She looked back up at him, smiling again. "I would predict, based on the evidence, that this body requires sleep, yes."

Thank the Lord.

She finally released his hand.

"Do you have a, ah, room?" The Doctor asked.

"Unfortunately not. I can fix that though, but will need your assistance." She looked him up and down. "You're far too exhausted to be of any use to me now, though. You need to rest."

The Doctor began to protest, but the TARDIS was up out of her chair and by his side before he could string a decent argument together.

"Come on, my Thief, you'll be needing my assistance to your room."

"I can assure you I'm quite-" The Doctor began, but his attempt to lift himself from his chair failed miserably as his head spun and his knees buckled.

"Trust me, I'm the TARDIS." She winked at him and smiled.

"I'm sure that's my line." The Doctor muttered as he allowed her to drape his arm around her shoulders and grip his waist, hoisting him up gently. It didn't take long for the odd pair to reach his room, as she had conveniently moved it a few doors down from the sitting room. She pushed open the door and helped the Doctor inside. He was feeling pretty dreadful again as he fell onto his bead.

"Ahh my head feels like it's been put in a galaxy-9 blender," he groaned.

"That's because-" the TARDIS began as she retrieved his lucky bow tie from his bedroom floor.

"Yes! I know Sexy, you don't have to explain!" The Doctor exclaimed, his hand covering his eyes.

"You called me…"

"I know." He sat up on his elbow, squinting as his head ached. "We are alone, aren't we?" He managed a wink and a smile.

The TARDIS gave a small smile back. "Are you pleased, time lord?" she asked hesitantly.

The Doctor's smile faded. "What do you mean?"

"With me. Like this. In a body … now we can talk." For the first time she appeared nervous.

The Doctor's hearts seemed to melt. He made the effort to rise from his bed, even though his whole body ached and the room span dizzily. He hobbled over and for the first time since he laid eyes on her that night, he hugged her. Properly and tightly, his arms wrapped around her waist. To his surprise, she didn't respond; her own arms merely hung limply at her sides. He put his mouth to her ear, and was intrigued to find that her dark hair smelled like deep space, the sparks of supernovas and the dust he found in the pit of the control room, even though this was just the body of an ordinary Victorian girl.

"I think this is the part where you put your arms around my neck and _squeeze_," He whispered, smiling.

He heard a small 'ahh' from somewhere beside his own ear as she rose on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"It's a small word," He began, speaking again into her ear. "It starts with a 'h' and means a great deal more than just 'pleased'."

She released her arms from around his neck and pulled back to look at him, frowning for a moment. Then a beautiful smile broke over her face.

"Happy." She whispered.


	6. Space Boxers and That Sleeping Thing

**Ahh, I am really not the most speedy at updating am I -_-'** **sorry guys! I got round to it in the end though, I hope it was worth waiting for. I know its short but I'll get some more up soon. Promise :D** **As always your reviews inspire me!**

The Doctor woke with a start. He was in his room; he could see his clutter scattered about the place. His limbs were aching uncomfortably, and his head throbbed slightly as he blinked the sleep away from his eyes. It wasn't until he shifted his arms to stretch that he noticed he had one too many. Jumping in fright, he kicked back his bed covers to reveal a tangle of limbs, four of which did not belong to him. It took him a few moments of rapid breathing to realise that he was actually in bed with his TARDIS.

In bed.

With his TARDIS.

Oh Rassilon.

He clutched franticly at his chest and legs, checking that he was clothed. To his relief, he was still wearing his shirt and space boxers. He then turned to the mess of dark brown hair beside him, and poked the woman lying face down on his pillow gingerly. She didn't stir. He nudged her onto her back, and was relieved to find that she was also wearing one of his shirts. Hang on, one of his shirts? Good Lord, how did that happen? He groaned, trying to remember getting into bed. The aching in his head made him groggy, but very slowly the events of the previous night began to return to him.

"You should sleep." She spoke finally, after they had both stood smiling at one another for a very lovely two and a half minutes.

"But I'm not really-" He tried to protest, but this time the TARDIS placed her hand over his mouth.

"You have not slept for over a week." She moved her hand from his mouth and down to rest against his chest. She appeared to be concentrating. "Your hearts have slowed. This indicates exhaustion." Her eyebrows were raised as she looked at him now.

"Oh, ok then, fine. You win. You better not be this bossy all the time, though." He stuck a tongue out at her as he yanked open one of his miss-matched drawers, wincing at the pain in his arms. She pulled a face back.

"Where are you sleeping then, know-it-all?" He asked as he pulled out one of his most comfortable shirts. It was a lovely light blue.

"I thought my name was _Sexy_when we are alone?" She asked, watching him curiously.

"Well, yes," The Doctor replied. "Unless you are being a know-it-all. Then, my dear, it is know-it-all." He glanced at her and smiled.

"I see. I may return to the room with the chairs and fire. That will suffice for tonight."

He looked her up and down. "You can't surely attempt to sleep in that stupid Victorian frock monstrosity?"

The TARDIS glanced down at her dress.

"Well, I hadn't really thought about it." She said. "But I do suppose you're right; wouldn't be the most comfortable. I shall just take it off then. The fire will prevent too great a loss of body heat." And with that, she began to unfasten her dress.

"Dear Rassilon! Wait!" The Doctor exclaimed, attempting to cover his eyes with one hand, whilst thrusting the blue shirt at her with the other. "Take this; I was getting it out for you! You can't just wonder around the ship _naked_!"

The TARDIS shot him a puzzled look. "And why not? This is my ship, to put it simply. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with the natural human form."

"Yes, not denying that, it's sort of my point," The Doctor muttered to himself. "And I think you'll find this is _my_ship!" He shot at her. "Or rather, _you_ are my ship!"

"Oh!" The TARDIS exclaimed, annoyed. "Oh yes, my mistake. I am your _stolen_ship, that's right!"

"Borrowed!" The Doctor yelled, "Bo-rrowed!"

"When am I being returned then, hmm?" The TARDIS asked quite calmly.

"Very soon if you keep on with this attitude!" The Doctor waved his shirt about as he pointed at her.

"Lier." She batted his hand out of the way.

"Know-it-all." He accused.

"Idiotic." She folded her arms across her chest, her dress only half done-up.

"Nuisance." He began unclipping his braces agitatedly.

"Thief!" She shrieked at him.

"Oh shut up and get into bed." He sighed.

"Pardon?" The TARDIS asked, as though he was a child who had sworn at her.

"I said, shut up and get into bed. You can't go and sleep in that room on one of those chairs on your own, now that's just silly. Besides, someone needs to keep an eye on you; we're still not sure that body won't just … conk out or something in the middle of the night! Put on the shirt and get in."

He tossed the shirt at her, before attempting to bend down and remove his trousers, but his head seared angrily and he slumped against the bed. "Oh, and, erm, could you maybe help me … Er, take off my trousers?" Not what he expected to be saying to his TARDIS in any situation, ever.

"That isn't going to happen tonight," The TARDIS said simply.

The Doctor stared at her. "What? I didn't mean … it's just – my head, it's … I can't -"

The TARDIS spoke over his awkward stammering. "The body didn't … no, excuse me, wrong tense … _won__'__t_, as you put it, 'conk out' tonight. It is perfectly stable."

He blinked at her. "Oh … right, of course, yes, I thought … never mind. Could you, erm …" He glanced down at his trousers.

She smiled graciously at him before helping to pull his trousers from his legs, so he was left lying on the bed in just his space boxers, bowtie and shirt. The TARDIS stared at his boxers, her head cocked to one side.

"You have Earth space craft on your underwear," she stated.

The Doctor glanced down at his boxers, blushing slightly. "Erm, yes, you're quite right." The pair sat for a few moments in an awkward silence; the TARDIS continuing to stare curiously at his underwear, the Doctor blushing ever harder by the second. Finally he made the effort to heave himself to his pillow, breaking the moment. He unfastened his bowtie and tossed it onto his slightly lop-sided bedside table. His head still ached uncomfortably.

"What have you done to me?" He groaned, crawling under the duvet. "I feel appalling."

"I only did what you wanted," the TARDIS replied. "Now if you are so concerned with retaining your modesty and my own, as you earlier claimed, please avert your eyes." With that she pulled down her dress. The Doctor was looking in the other direction, but he couldn't help but glance once at her slender back as she shrugged on his shirt and loosely buttoned it. She was right; the human body that she hadn't wanted to waste really was beautiful. Once his shirt was properly fastened, she turned around to look at him. He breathed in sharply. Maybe he should have left her go and sleep in the other room after all.

"All ready!" She said cheerfully.

He smiled at her hesitantly, before patting the bed beside him. She sat down gracefully, and swung her legs beneath the duvet.

"Well, erm, night then …" The Doctor said awkwardly.

"Goodnight." She said simply with a smile.

The pair lay down in unison. The Doctor fidgeted a little uncomfortably; he was very aware of the TARDIS's breath on the back of his neck, and it was making the bottom of his back tingle oddly. He really was exhausted, though, and as he laid his head on a pillow for the first time in just over a weak, his eyelids began to drift closed. He was nearly unconscious when a voice from beside him made him start awake.

"So how _do_ you do this sleeping thing, then?"

He sighed heavily, before replying sleepily.

"You don't really have to make an effort to _do_ anything. Just close your eyes."

The TARDIS shifted so that she was lying on her back.

"That's what I _have_ been doing, but nothings happening!"

"It will." The Doctor said shortly.

"Were you asleep?" The TARDIS asked.

"Well, yes, almost. Very nearly, until someone started asking me ridiculous questions!"

The TARDIS harrumphed. "It wasn't ridiculous, TARDIS's don't sleep, how am _I_ supposed to know what to do!"

The Doctor didn't reply.

She turned onto her side again, facing his back.

"I hope you're not nearly sleeping again. I am so very bored, and this just feels silly lying-"

The Doctor turned over so that he was facing her, and pressed a finger to her lips. "Shhh. Just … relax. Enjoy the feeling of _lying__ down_."

The pair stared at one another, their faces merely inches apart. Her eyes were wide and lively, almost dancing; his were deep and kind, but lacked the spark of hers due to exhaustion. "Try not to think too much." He removed his finger from her lips as she watched him curiously. "Close your eyes," he whispered. She ignored his instruction though, continuing to gaze at him. She looked so peaceful, he thought. It was almost as though he could see her soul through those eyes, there was something distinctly un-human about them. With a great effort, as he was very much enjoying just looking at her, he reached out and gently pressed her eyelids closed, before whispering into her ear, "Would you like to er, turn over?"

He saw her frown, her eyes still closed.

"Will that help, thief?" she asked.

"Do it and see." He smiled as she shifted position, before carefully wrapping his arms around her and resting his head near to hers, her unruly hair tickling his nose gently. He felt her sigh contentedly, before he drifted into oblivion.

The pain in his head was subsiding nicely, and though they still ached, he found his limbs were now much more willing to do as he wished. He stood in front of his bathroom mirror; the round one with the crack in it, his favourite out of the seven he had hanging on the wall. He noticed his eyes were much brighter this morning, and the dark circles beneath them had all but disappeared. He fastened his braces and straightened his bowtie, before brushing his fringe back from his eyes with his fingers.

"Hello good-looking." The Doctor grinned at his reflection manically before spinning round on his heels and strolling back into his bedroom, where the human TARDIS was still sleeping soundly under his duvet. He perched himself carefully on the edge of his bed, brushing a stray strand of dark hair from her brow. Leaning towards her ear, he whispered, "Morning sleepy-head."

There was an almighty shriek, a blur of duvet and arms and suddenly she had sunk her teeth into his neck. The Doctor swore loudly in Galifreyan, threw her away from him and jumped backwards off the bed. The TARDIS was sat bolt upright, now also swearing. In Spanish. And in Latin. And in the language of the High Lords of Parafox Nine.

"Whoa, whoa! It's me!" The Doctor yelled at her, at the same time inspecting his neck for blood.

The TARDIS closed her mouth, instead breathing rapidly through her nose as her wide eyes took in her surroundings. She raised her hands and turned them over in front of her, inspecting each finger closely. Finally she looked over at the Doctor.

"What was this? Will this be? No, no, _is_ this? I am … I am …"

The Doctor sighed in exasperation. "You're in a human body, to put it quite simply. You don't recall?" He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Ahh … yes, my thief. Talking. Talking to my thief." She smiled brightly. There was a pause. "I _slept_!" She exclaimed proudly.

"Correct." The Doctor nodded, his hand still pressed to the tender spot on his neck. "Do you really have to be quite so … physical? This is definitely going to bruise … Pond is going to find this dreadfully amusing."

The TARDIS was on her feet now, wandering around the Doctors room in his blue shirt.

"I couldn't have been very much less physical in my previous form.' She commented without looking at him. She had found his desk, and was peering at his three different alarm clocks. "What was it you called me? 'Up and downy gold stuff in a big blue box? Quite an accurate description, actually. Slightly childlike, but still. And let me remind you, it was you who wanted me back this way. All … _physical._ So really you have very little right to complain." She prodded the nearest clock.

The Doctor frowned. "Childlike?" he asked, slightly annoyed. "And can you not touch that –"

"This is a clock?" She asked him, picking up the alarm clock.

"Well, yes, although that one's just a human one." He answered, wincing as the TARDIS began shaking it less than delicately. "Actually, it was a gift, and I don't appreciate you handling it quite so-"

"Gosh!" The TARDIS exclaimed, cutting him off abruptly. "Humans really don't understand time at all, do they? All these silly little numbers … and these!" She flicked one of the clock hands. "It's just hilarious!"

The Doctor snatched the clock back from her grasp before she could do any more damage.

"Well there are a lot more primitive ways of measuring time than the human way, let me assure you."

The TARDIS frowned at him, but before she could open her mouth to reply, her stomach rumbled loudly. She jumped at the sound, and glanced down in the direction from which it came.

"Something needs oiling." She glanced at the Doctor, who chuckled.

"No, something needs fuelling." He winked at her, before pulling a pair of his trousers from a drawer and tossing them at her. "Put these on, and then meet me in the kitchen."


End file.
